Racks of many different configurations are currently available in the food and beverage industry. A number of such racks are employed to store any type of beverage container, including without limitation bottles, boxes, crates, bags, kegs, barrels, and other containers capable of holding fluid. By way of example only, racks are often employed to support syrup containers used in post-mix beverage blending. As is well known in the art, the syrup in such containers is pumped, drained, or otherwise removed from the containers and is often mixed with water or water and gas to yield a post-mix beverage. In those cases where gas is mixed with the syrup, the gases can include carbon dioxide, nitrogen, a combination of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, or any other gas or gas combination.
An example of a fluid container commonly used in the food and beverage industry is the “bag-in-box” container, whereby a comestible fluid (such as a beverage, a syrup or other beverage concentrate, and the like) is contained within a bag enclosed within a box for support. A tap and pump is often employed to extract the comestible fluid from the bag. For example, a tap can be positioned toward the bottom of the bag to enable the fluid to be more completely removed from the bag via a conduit between the tap and pump. In some cases, a metering valve is connected to the bag and pump in order to meter the flow of comestible fluid from the pump or bag. During post-mix beverage blending, a metered supply of syrup is typically mixed with water or with water and a metered amount of gas. Water mixed with comestible fluid from the bag is often chilled to a point within a temperature range in order to promote optimum saturation of gas within the water and syrup mixture.
Currently available comestible fluid container racks are often inadequate for the needs of many users, and even for the process of dispensing comestible fluid from containers on such racks (e.g. in post-mix preparation and in the preparation of other types of beverages). Such comestible fluid container racks can be found in restaurants, bars, concession stands, and the like.
Problems and limitations with conventional comestible fluid container racks include the inability to change the capacity of such racks (whether by changing the size of a rack or by easily and readily adding to the rack), inadequate provisions for mounting or organizing components associated with the dispense of comestible fluid from the containers, and rack designs that are difficult and time-consuming to set up, disassemble, and/or transport. Such components can include pumps, filters, valves, regulators, treatment devices, and conduits to connect such components.
The mounting and arrangement of such components in comestible fluid storage and dispensing systems also presents problems and limitations well known in the art (regardless of whether a rack as described above is employed). By way of example only, these problems and limitations include haphazard and disorganized systems and systems in which systems components are difficult and time-consuming to service, replace, and maintain. In some cases, it can be difficult for a user or other party to even identify which components in the system are associated with which other components.
In light of the problems and limitations of the prior art described above, a need exists for a comestible fluid container rack that is expandable, adjustable, can be relatively easily assembled and disassembled, can be transported, enables a user to mount and/or organize components of a comestible fluid dispensing system thereon, is relatively simple in construction, and is low in cost. Each embodiment of the present invention achieves one or more of these results.